Like all other start-ups, we too cannot start =
with all dedicated servers for Cassandra. So right now we have no better ch=
oice except for using a VPS :), but we can definitely choose one from among=
st a suitable set of VPS configurations. As of now since we are starting ou=
t, could we initiate our cluster with 2 nodes(RF=3D2), (KVM, 2GB ram, 2 cor=
es, 30GB SDD) . Right now we wont we having a very heavy load on Cassandra =
until a next few months till we grow our user base. So, this choice is main=
ly based on the pricing vs configuration as well as digital ocean's goo=
d reputation in the community.

I've run several lab configurations on l=
inodes; I wouldn't run cassandra on any shared virtual platform for lar=
ge-scale production, just because your IO performance is going to be really=
hard to predict. =A0Lots of people do, though -- depends on your cassandra=
loads and how consistent you need to have performance be, as well as how m=
uch of your working set will fit into memory. =A0Remember that linode signi=
ficantly oversells their CPU as well.

The release version of KVM, at least as of a few months ago, still doesn=
9;t support TRIM on SSD; that, plus the fact that you don't know how ot=
hers will use SSDs or if their file systems will keep the SSDs healthy, mea=
ns that SSD performance on KVM is going to be highly unpredictable. =A0I ha=
ve not tested digitalocean, but I did test several other KVM+SSD shared-ten=
ant hosting providers aggressively for cassandra a couple months ago; they =
all failed badly.

Your mileage will vary considerably based on what you need out of cassandra=
, what your data patterns look like, and how you configure your system. =A0=
That said, I would use xen before KVM for high-performance IO.

I have not run Cassandra in any volume on Amazon -- lots of folks have, and=
may have recommendations (including SSD) there for where it falls on the p=
rice/performance curve.